Mary Ann Redmond

Last updated

Mary Ann Redmond (born 3 November 1959 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American singer known for her soulful and wide-ranging vocal style in popular and jazz music. She is based in the greater metropolitan Washington, D.C., area, but has performed in several locations in the United States and in other countries. Both her live performances and her five CDs to date have earned her acclaim from audiences and recognition from the music industry, although she has never achieved national fame on a par with many of the performers she has worked with, such as Mary Chapin Carpenter. She is primarily a regional artist and has won 24 Washington Area Music Awards (Wammies).

Contents

Beginnings

Redmond was born in Richmond, Virginia, the youngest of three children. As a child she attended St. Elizabeth's Parochial School, where at the age of 6 she performed the song "Dominique," made famous by The Singing Nun. Later, she joined up with her brothers Jimbo and Jack in a band singing pop tunes. Redmond eventually attended Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) where she studied opera and voice while playing gigs at nights with the Jack Diamond band. As her career progressed, Redmond left VCU to sing with a series of bands and casino lounge acts during the 1980s. In addition to pop music, she performed jazz and blues tunes as well, developing a broad repertoire.

First album

In the mid 1990s, Redmond began singing with a band led by saxophone artist Al Williams. Tired of the road life, she settled in the Washington, DC area and with the Williams band recorded her first album, Prisoner of the Heart, first released in 1994 (a remixed version was re-released in 2002). It was around this time that the major recording company Motown signed Mary Ann Redmond to a development deal. However, before she had the opportunity to record or release any product, a change in personnel at the label resulted in her being dropped from Motown. Rather than seek another major label, Redmond founded an independent music company, Spellbound Music, to handle both her albums and her original songs. With the exception of her third album Here I Am, all of Redmond's material has been released on the Spellbound label.

Going solo

In 1995, Mary Ann Redmond formed her own supporting band and went out as a solo act, performing at Washington-area clubs and private parties. One of her first major shows was at the famed jazz club Blues Alley. This performance was recorded and released as Mary Ann's second CD, Live At Blues Alley. Redmond became increasingly well known, earning awards and positive reviews in major trade publications such as Billboard. Other artists began to seek her out, and she occasional worked with other performers in duos for specific shows. One of her friends was another upcoming artist of the period, Eva Cassidy. Redmond and Cassidy had different vocal styles but they admired one another's work, and performed together one night at "Fleetwoods," and when Cassidy was stricken with cancer, Redmond sang at a Georgetown benefit to raise funds for her. Following Cassidy's death in 1996, Redmond added her vocals to a version of Cassidy's song, "Hear," creating a recorded duet that is now considered a special track by fans of both women.

After meeting fellow performer Jon Carroll, a member of Mary Chapin Carpenter's band, Carroll produced Redmond's 2000 CD, Here I Am. The album includes a song written by Mary Chapin Carpenter for Redmond, "Alone but Not Lonely." Another band member, John Jennings, later produced Redmond's 2005 release Send the Moon. Redmond also joined the others to perform during a USO show for the U.S. Armed Forces in Bosnia in 1999.

Today

Mary Ann co-wrote Love Me Anyway with Todd Wright, that was covered as a duet on Celine Dion's and Johnny Hallyday's 2012 French CDs. Celine's CD, Sans Attendre, has sold over 3 million copies.

The lineup of the Mary Ann Redmond Band is subject to change over the years and as of 2013 she is working with guitarist Dan Leonard (and sometimes Michael Ault or Keith Grimes), bassist Mike Tony Echols and drummer Deren Blessman.

The Mary Ann Redmond Band performs every Sunday night (well almost every Sunday night) at Flanagan's Harp & Fiddle in Bethesda, Maryland.

Mary Ann completed a new Jazz CD, Compared To What, with Paul Langosch and Jay Cooley, released in the summer of 2013, which includes Love Me Anyway. [1]

Since 1992, Mary Ann has won 24 Wammies (Washington Area Music Awards [2] ). In 2013 Ms. Redmond was awarded 3 Wammies for Blues/traditional RB female vocalist, song of the year for Love Me Anyway, and songwriter of the year with Todd Wright. She received her latest Wammie for 2014 in the category of Blues/traditional RB female vocalist.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eva Cassidy</span> American singer (1963–1996)

Eva Marie Cassidy was an American singer and musician known for her interpretations of jazz, folk, and blues music, sung with a powerful, emotive soprano voice. In 1992, she released her first album, The Other Side, a set of duets with go-go musician Chuck Brown, followed by the 1996 live solo album titled Live at Blues Alley. Although she had been honored by the Washington Area Music Association, she was virtually unknown outside her native Washington, D.C., at the time of her death from melanoma at the age of 33 in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Eckstine</span> American jazz singer and bandleader (1914–1993)

William Clarence Eckstine was an American jazz and pop singer and a bandleader during the swing and bebop eras. He was noted for his rich, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. In 2019, Eckstine was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award "for performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording." His recording of "I Apologize" was given the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999. The New York Times described him as an "influential band leader" whose "suave bass-baritone" and "full-throated, sugary approach to popular songs inspired singers like Earl Coleman, Johnny Hartman, Joe Williams, Arthur Prysock, and Lou Rawls."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Washington, D.C.</span>

Washington, D.C., has been home to many prominent musicians and is particularly known for the musical genres of Jazz, Rhythm & Blues, bluegrass, punk rock and its locally-developed descendants hardcore and emo, and a local funk genre called go-go. The first major musical figure from District of Columbia was John Philip Sousa, a military brass band composer. Later figures include jazz musicians, such as Duke Ellington, Charlie Rouse, Buck Hill, Ron Holloway, Davey Yarborough, Michael A. Thomas, Butch Warren, and DeAndrey Howard; soul musicians, including Billy Stewart, The Unifics, The Moments, Ray, Goodman & Brown, Van McCoy, The Presidents, The Choice Four, Vernon Burch, guitarist Charles Pitts, and Sir Joe Quarterman & Free Soul.

The music of Michigan is composed of many different genres. The city of Detroit has been one of the most musically influential and innovative cities for the past 50 years, whether in Michigan or anywhere else in the United States. Impressively, for 48 straight years (1959–2007) a greater Michigan-area artist has produced a chart-topping recording. Michigan is perhaps best known for three developments: early punk rock, Motown, and techno.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BeauSoleil</span> Cajun band

BeauSoleil is a Cajun band from Louisiana, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Wells</span> American singer and songwriter (1943–1992)

Mary Esther Wells was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Chapin Carpenter</span> American singer-songwriter (b. 1958)

Mary Chapin Carpenter is an American country and folk music singer-songwriter. Carpenter spent several years singing in Washington, D.C.-area clubs before signing in the late 1980s with Columbia Records. Carpenter's first album, 1987's Hometown Girl, did not produce any charting singles. She broke through with 1989's State of the Heart and 1990's Shooting Straight in the Dark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Humes</span> American singer

Helen Humes was an American singer. Humes was a teenage blues singer, a vocalist with Count Basie's band, a saucy R&B diva, and a mature interpreter of the classic popular song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Marvelettes</span> American girl group

The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart, and Georgia Dobbins, who was replaced by Wanda Young prior to the group signing their first deal. They were the first successful act of Motown Records after the Miracles and its first significantly successful female group after the release of the 1961 number-one single, "Please Mr. Postman", one of the first number-one singles recorded by an all-female vocal group and the first by a Motown recording act.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Clark (singer)</span> American soul, jazz, and blues singer

Christine Elizabeth Clark, better known as Chris Clark, is an American soul, jazz, and blues singer, who recorded for Motown Records. Clark became known to Northern Soul fans for hit songs such as 1965's "Do Right Baby Do Right" and 1966's "Love's Gone Bad" (Holland-Dozier-Holland). She later co-wrote the screenplay for the 1972 motion picture Lady Sings the Blues starring Diana Ross, which earned Clark an Academy Award nomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernestine Anderson</span> American jazz and blues singer

Ernestine Anderson was an American jazz and blues singer. In a career spanning more than six decades, she recorded over 30 albums. She was nominated four times for a Grammy Award. She sang at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Monterey Jazz Festival, as well as at jazz festivals all over the world. In the early 1990s she joined Qwest Records, the label founded by fellow Garfield High School graduate Quincy Jones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Hampton Callaway</span> American singer

Ann Hampton Callaway is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and actress. She wrote and sang the theme song for the TV series The Nanny.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Bug</span> 1992 single by Dire Straits

"The Bug" is a song written by Mark Knopfler and originally performed by Dire Straits on the final studio album by the band, On Every Street (1991). It was covered by Mary Chapin Carpenter in 1992, and also recorded on the albums Blues Ballads (1996) by The Alex Bollard Assembly and Keep Your Hands to Yourself (2002) by Mike Berry & The Outlaws.

Grace Bernadette Griffith was a folk and Celtic singer based in Washington, D.C. She has been honored with multiple Wammie awards by the Washington Area Music Association. In 1998, she was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Griffith died at the age of 64 following complications from Parkinson's disease on June 5, 2021.

Karyn Rochelle is an American country music songwriter and vocalist. As a songwriter, she has written or co-written songs which became hits for Trisha Yearwood, LeAnn Rimes, Ronnie Milsap, Sunny Sweeney, and, moving outside of her primary genre into R&B, Kenny G.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Passionate Kisses</span> 1989 single by Lucinda Williams

"Passionate Kisses" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams. It was released in 1989 as the fourth single from her third album, Lucinda Williams (1988).

Mary Bridget Davies is an American singer and actress. She performs with her own band, The Mary Bridget Davies Group, and is also an interpreter of Janis Joplin's music. She received a Tony Award nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Musical for her performance as Janis in A Night with Janis Joplin. Her band The Mary Bridget Davies Group released an album with original songs in 2012 titled Wanna Feel Somethin.

Dana LaCroix is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. She has released six roots and blues-influenced studio albums that incorporate elements of pop, roots-rock, country and folk music.

Miche Braden is a jazz singer and theatrical performer known for her on-stage portrayals of Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday. Braden, who is originally from Detroit, originated the Bessie Smith role and has been performing it since 2000 in ‘The Devil’s Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith’. Braden has been called "the biggest force of nature this side of Hurricane Harvey." She has performed in the musical nationwide, including an off-Broadway run in 2001 and again in 2011, as well as acting as the musical director and writing songs. She was nominated for a Helen Hayes award for her performance in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marian Henderson</span> Musical artist

Marian Henderson was an Australian folk and jazz singer later referred to as "the queen of the (Australian) 1960s folk revival". She worked extensively in Australian folk and jazz clubs during the 1960s and 1970s and appeared on television and a number of Australian folk music recordings, though recorded only one album under her own name.

References

  1. Jazz, All About (11 December 2013). "Redmond-Langosch-Cooley: Compared to What". All About Jazz. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  2. "WAMA". www.wamadc.com.